Cameras are optical instruments used for capturing still or moving images (and/or sound). Generally, cameras can be classified into two main categories, a point and shoot (P&S) type and a single lens reflex (SLR) type. Both of these types are now predominantly digital, but they may also use film to record an image.
P&S type cameras have all the optical and/or electrical instruments arranged in the camera body and the operation of P&S type camera is largely automatic. Users of P&S cameras can readily capture images by pointing the camera to the object or image to be captured and actuating the shutter. Thus, P&S cameras are simpler for use and are relatively small in size and more compact.
SLR type cameras, on the other hand, allow a larger degree of user manipulation as the lens of these cameras is readily changeable. Users of SLR cameras will often have to manipulate the optical and/or electrical instruments of the cameras before capturing an image. Thus, the quality of images taken using SLR cameras will often depend on the photographic skills of the user. Also, SLR cameras are relatively large and more bulky compared with P&S cameras.
Nonetheless, in some photographic (photo or video) applications, it may be necessary to capture still or moving images using different cameras at the same time. However, different types of cameras (or different varieties of cameras of the same type) will often have different operation characteristics. This presents a significant challenge for realizing real time synchronous/synchronized photographic (photo or video) shooting with a plurality of cameras of different types.